UPTON, NY — Ping Cao, a chemistry graduate student at Stony Brook University has won the sixth annual Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship. The Asian Pacific American Association (APAA) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory sponsors the scholarship, which consists of $1,000 and a plaque, to honor the distinguished late Brookhaven Lab scientist for whom it was named.

Cao is studying the formation of amyloids, toxic deposits formed by various proteins in numerous human diseases. In particular, Cao is investigating the mechanism in the formation of islet amyloid polypeptide, a protein that plays an important role in the development of diabetes, and designing amyloid inhibitors for potential therapeutic use.

“I am honored to receive the Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship,” Cao said. “I cherish the opportunity to do research with world-leading experts in my field at Stony Brook University. My career goal is to develop an independent research program focused on molecular medicine.”

Mow Shiah Lin began his career at Brookhaven Lab in 1975 as a postdoctoral fellow and advanced to co-lead a research team working with an environmental remediation company to use selected bacteria to convert toxic oil wastes, such as used motor oils, into useful products. In 2001, Lin shared an R&D 100 Award, given by R&D Magazine for the top 100 technological achievements of the year, for developing a technology to recover silica from geothermal brine. Lin died suddenly due to a brain aneurysm at the height of his career in 2003, and his coworkers, friends and family contributed funds to establish the scholarship.

In remembrance of the manner in which Lin began his career, the scholarship is granted annually to an Asian immigrant with a student visa who is matriculated at an accredited institution of higher education on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens) working toward a graduate degree in environmental & energy technology, biology, or chemistry.

Cao earned a B.S. in chemistry in 2005 and an M.S. in biology and pharmaceutical biotechnology in 2007 from Nanjing University in China. She enrolled in the graduate program in chemistry at Stony Brook University in 2007, and she expects to receive her Ph.D. in 2012.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven National Laboratory is a multipurpose research
institution funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Located on
Long Island, NY, Brookhaven operates large-scale facilities for
studies in physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, applied
science, and advanced technology. The Laboratory's almost 3,000
scientists, engineers, and support staff are joined each year by
more than 5,000 visiting researchers from around the world.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical,
biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry
and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven
Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State
University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory
facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.